GRC Report Staff

The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) has released its 2024 Annual Report, showcasing the organization’s significant contributions to safeguarding personal data in an evolving digital landscape. The report highlights key milestones, including the adoption of a new strategy, an increase in consistency opinions under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and continued guidance on emerging issues like AI, facial recognition, and cross-border data transfers.

Three of the country’s major pork producers have agreed to settle a long-running class-action lawsuit over alleged price-fixing, contributing a combined $64 million to resolve claims that they conspired to inflate pork prices. The agreement, filed in federal court in Minnesota this week, brings the total recovery in the case to over $180 million and adds a new chapter to one of the largest antitrust battles in the food industry.

Two companies operating a wood treatment facility in Eugene, Oregon, along with their president, have been sentenced for repeated environmental violations, including boiling hazardous waste and venting the pollutants directly into the air. A federal judge ordered J.H. Baxter & Co. Inc., its California-based counterpart J.H. Baxter & Co., and their president Georgia Baxter-Krause to pay a combined $1.5 million in criminal fines.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is no longer a distant promise, it’s here, and it’s making waves across businesses of all kinds. A recent survey by KPMG gives us a peek into how top executives are thinking about the role of AI in shaping their companies' futures. The KPMG AI Quarterly Pulse Survey, conducted from February 25 to March 21, 2025, reached out to 100 business leaders from organizations with $1 billion or more in annual revenue. These leaders aren’t just making decisions for today, they’re laying the groundwork for the future of AI in business.

The European Commission has hit two of the world’s biggest tech companies, Apple and Meta, with massive fines for failing to comply with key obligations under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), a regulation designed to level the playing field in Europe’s digital landscape. Apple has been fined €500 million, while Meta faces a €200 million penalty, as the Commission accuses them of undermining fair competition and consumer choice in different ways.

In separate settlements with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), both J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and SpeedRoute LLC have agreed to pay fines for violations of FINRA rules and federal securities regulations. These settlements address deficiencies in supervisory systems, failure to adhere to reporting requirements, and lapses in financial and risk management controls.

The German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) imposed a series of regulatory measures on AKBANK AG following a special inspection of the institution’s business operations. BaFin’s findings revealed significant shortcomings across several critical areas, including anti-money laundering practices, internal audits, and business transaction documentation. The financial regulator has mandated that the bank address these issues promptly, and has levied a total of €432,500 in administrative fines.